Committees:

Presenter:
Jayna Burgdorf

I. Discussion:
The
Seventy-fifth Legislature
appropriated $143,944,079
million in line item
appropriations to the
Department for fiscal
year 99. Additional
appropriation authority
is available based on
other specific rider
authority. Because this
agency is responsible
for earning over 50%
of its revenue to actually
use the appropriation
authority for operating
and capital, the proposed
budgets are based on
FY 99 revenue projections.
Revenue earnings were
further analyzed to
ensure that dedicated
funds are spent for
statutorily authorized
purposes.

The proposed combined budget
for FY 99 is $207,518,409
million of which $157,312,152
million is for operating
expenses (including $20,678,576
million for payroll deductions
and employee benefits) and
$29,854,441 million for
capital projects and $20,351,816
million for grants. The
full-time equivalent (FTE)
employee cap for the Department
is 2,954 and the proposed
budget includes 2,941.46
FTEs.

The base operating portion
of this budget is funded
at 95% of the FY 98 budget.
This allows for reprioritization
of funds to meet the changing
needs of our operating environment.
Areas which meet strategic
priorities, commission charges
and critical needs are proposed
as supplementals.

The Seventy-fifth Legislature
approved $60 million in
revenue bond authority for
critical repairs. The Department
issued $12 million in FY
98. This capital budget
includes the issuance of
$18 million of these revenue
bonds. The Texas Public
Finance Authority manages
the bond issuance for state
agencies and the Bond Review
Board approves all bond
issuances requested by agencies.
The debt service was appropriated
by specific rider authority
from General Revenue. This
is the primary focus of
the capital program.

II. Recommendation: The
staff recommends the Texas
Parks and Wildlife Commission
adopt the following motion:

"The Executive Director
is authorized to expend
funds to operate the
Parks and Wildlife Department
in accordance with the
Proposed FY 99 Operating
Budget (Exhibit A), the
Proposed FY99 Grant Budget
(Exhibit B) and the Proposed
FY 99 Capital Program
(Exhibit C).

"The Commission
approves the issuance
of up to $18,000,000 in
Revenue Bonds to address
infrastructure needs
pursuant to the provisions
of Chapter 11 of the Parks
and Wildlife Code. The
Executive Director is
authorized and directed
to proceed with the
necessary steps required
to issue said bonds including
working with the Texas
Public Finance Authority
and the Bond Review Board,
and the Commission approves
the resolution (Exhibit
D) authorizing this issue
and providing for the
proper notice to bond
bidders."